Rubik's cube chest of drawers

Rubik\
30 years on from its invention, Rubik's cube is still instantly recognizable. People like picking it up, turning it a few times, maybe doing a side or two (or five, as a braggart in my class once memorably claimed). Solving the cube remains a reasonably rare feat - you're either smart enough to have figured it out yourself, or geeky enough to have followed a how-to, and most people are neither (then, of course, there is the astonishing Feliks Zemdegs...).

Rubik's cube is not just the quintessential hand-held puzzle, though: it's also an iconic piece of design, so I co-opted it when making a new chest of drawers for my son's room. This cubic piece of furniture has only one of the three required axes of rotation, so is unsolvable in the conventional sense, but can be arranged in any configuration you like by non-sporting means. The drawers do pose a brain-bending challenge: the first thing you have to solve is detecting that they're there, and all three have hidden locks in different locations.

 
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Step 1Design

Design
Unsurprisingly, there are lots of bits of furniture around that are based on the Rubik's cube; coffee tables are particularly popular, and for 980€ (!!), you can even buy a Rubik's cube locker. I wanted to do something different, and use lazy Susan bearings to achieve at least one axis of rotation - they're cheap, really strong, and add a wacky dimension to a chest of drawers.

The design is simply three boxes, each containing a single drawer. Their construction is basic - they're made of 1/4" and 1/2" plywood (which you should get precut at the lumber yard into two 2'x8' sheets), and assembled using a brad nailer and wood glue. This method of construction is super fast and precise, and results in really strong objects. The main challenge in this build is cutting the pieces with high precision - if you can't cut plywood to within 1 mm, you should probably practice on something simpler until you can. Having said that, I'm no pro and I've never made a chest of drawers before, so this project is NOT fancy woodworking by any means! If you weren't fussed about the drawers, it would be dead easy - it's just three boxes and a couple of lazy Susans, and you'd have a cool coffee table with no additionally functionality aside from rotatability. Deluxe Scrabble, anyone?

I was going to simply glue the "stickers" on to decorate the outside - or even just paint them on - but the future owner insisted he had to be able to scramble and "solve" the cube, so I enabled this with the help of rare-earth magnets for holding power and short dowels for positioning. I'm glad I did - it's more fun now, and the colors can be selected to match your mood or decor, including impossible combos of color (insofar as the real cube goes).

The puzzle is a little under 60 mm across, and this chest of drawers is exactly 600 mm across, so it is in approximately 10:1 scale. 1000 regular Rubik's cubes would therefore fit inside.

There are cubes that are 2x2, 4x4, 5x5 etc, so if you need more (or less) drawers, there is an obvious design solution...
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90 comments
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Nov 23, 2011. 1:33 PMbfk says:
So cool! I want one & I'm over 60
Nov 12, 2011. 3:50 AMmad_mat says:
Epic build Makendo, top shelf.
'bout how many hours?
Nov 9, 2011. 11:10 PMatrupe says:
Almost have mine finished.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/109527486558392328338/posts/hfEAKVn6Ff8
Nov 9, 2011. 5:22 AMMelissa W says:
This is gorgeous. Seriously love it. I featured it at The Storage Geek With full credit and link back.
Nov 8, 2011. 2:10 PMmajorson says:
Inspiring! lovely father..  
If you intereted, Learn:

How to solve a Rubik's Cube

(Great animated guide for beginners, I'm sure you'll success shortly..)

Majorson.

Nov 5, 2011. 4:25 AMbaba87 says:
Awesome. You should sell these!
Nov 3, 2011. 4:47 PMscaremeifucan1428 says:
Ok I want to make a chest, but not one this huge. I was thinking something more like the size of a jewelry box. What would my new dimensions be and would any of the steps be different? I would love this as a chest, but I just don't have the space in my room. It would be great if you could help me make a smaller version of this!
Oct 30, 2011. 9:40 PMlanvy-nyc says:
WOW! U REALLY OUT DID YOURSELF!!
Oct 27, 2011. 6:21 AMkarbuckle says:
This is genius at it's best. I didn't realize it was seperate drawers on each layer. I thought it was just a square box with the lid that opened for storage. I will build these for my kids for sure!
Oct 19, 2011. 6:12 PMDisplacedMic says:
Sorry to keep bugging you with questions - but i am in the market for a new router - any recommendations? would i need a variable speed router for this project?

Im looking at the Porter-Cable 690LR 11 Amp Fixed-Base Router which is ~ 120 shipped.

thoughts?
Oct 19, 2011. 6:15 PMDisplacedMic says:
oops - and also the DEWALT DWP611PK 1.25 HP Max Torque Variable Speed Compact Router Combo Kit which is a variable that comes w/ a plunge addon...
Oct 23, 2011. 7:29 AMggardner7 says:
this is super cool
Oct 13, 2011. 12:54 PMBard says:
Just out of curiosity how much did you sell it for?
Oct 14, 2011. 11:27 AMBard says:
the way the instructible was written it sound like it was a commissioned build that's why i asked. Nice design by the way.
Oct 19, 2011. 5:01 PMDisplacedMic says:
you are clearly a great dad!
Oct 18, 2011. 3:48 PMstevemoseley says:
Great stuff and beautifully built. It makes you wonder what other small items around the house need to be up-sized like this.
Oct 18, 2011. 5:03 AMmary candy says:
GREAT JOB !!!
I really love it.
Voted of course.
Oct 16, 2011. 2:54 PMschlieffenska says:
I'm having one of my "AGGGGH! I wish I didn't live in a n rv!!!" moments right now. Way cool. Super, super cool.
Oct 15, 2011. 3:17 PMWin Guy says:
And... YOU MADE THIS?!?!? *Slams "Subscribe" button as hard as possible*
Amazing!
Win Guy
Oct 15, 2011. 6:13 PMsconner1 says:
Make sure the nails are far enough from the edges so the router bit doesn't hit them
Oct 13, 2011. 12:30 PMjdougherty2 says:
The 9 magnets on top MAY be needed depending on how fast your kid decides to spin it. Having 9 colored tiles flying all over the place may be fun, but only until someone gets hurt. :)
Oct 15, 2011. 6:04 PMsconner1 says:
Then it qualifys as a sport.
Seriously though, If you're buying that many magnets what's 9 more?
especially if you get the benefit of being able to put any colored tiles on any position.
You could save 6, well 5 in this case, by permanently affixing the center positions as a real Rubik's center squares don't actually move in relation to each other they only "spin".
Oct 15, 2011. 6:34 PMsconner1 says:
Groovy build.
Oct 11, 2011. 7:02 AMjeff-o says:
Oooh, I do love the Diablo blade I have in my miter saw. I second your recommendation!
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Author:makendo
I like to make stuff more than I like to buy things